~ Building strong, joy-filled marriages

Tag Archives: faith

President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday in response to a joint request by both Houses of Congress. He proclaimed November 26, 1789 as a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”

As families gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, it seems appropriate to look to Father Solanus Casey, who was beatified in the Archdiocese of Detroit just a few days ago. Blessed Solanus was well-known for thanking God and urging others to do so. He is probably best known for instructing those who sought his intercession to “thank God in advance” for favors received.

The Makonde people of Tanzania in Africa are known for intricate wood carvings. One style of carving is called the Ujamaa, which means community and family. Also known as “Tree of Life” carvings, they are fashioned from a single piece of African Blackwood (mpingo), and can be as high as six feet tall. They depict past and present generations of a family, supporting each other around a central family ancestor. The sculpture poignantly illustrates that each person’s life is built upon the lives of those who have gone before them.

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

The image of the Ujamaa is helpful in thinking about the souls of the faithfully departed that have gone before us. Our Christian faith has been built on generations of faithful disciples who have kept the flames of the faith burning for more than two millennia. We are truly “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets… [with] Christ himself being the cornerstone” (Eph 2:20). Our ancestors are part of this foundation along with countless saints and unrecognized champions of the faith. This “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) is praying for us, urging us to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14).

To be in family, is to encounter times of struggles and strife. As parents, we are sure to experience fear and worry over the well-being of our children. Many parents are grieved and fear for the eternal salvation of their children who make poor life-choices. Spouses may be in a troubled marriage and fear the breakup of the family. No one is immune from struggles in life. How you deal with these struggles can positively affect the outcome and your own sense of well-being. Jesus speaks to these situations in the Gospels.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 1 Corinthians 9:24

Do you know that your mission as a husband or a wife is to help your spouse get to Heaven? Of the seven sacraments in the Catholic Church, only two are called “Sacraments of Service,” Holy Orders and Matrimony. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) says about these two sacraments: